Open Up!

Open Up! is an IHLIA project about the history of lgbt emancipation and development, mainly in central, east and southeast Europe.

It focuses on these countries because in these regions the lgbt rights are lagging behind compared to those in many other parts of Europe. The archives and history of these brave movements contain unique documents. They can help us understand the changes in these countries and how they affect (or have affected) the lgbt movements and organizations. In addition, these documents provide us with some background on our less known heroes.

Completely online

The purpose of Open Up! is to make a large number of journals and organization archives digitally accessible worldwide. These include magazines, newspapers, professional journals and texts from lectures, folders policy memos, newsletters, minutes of meeting and press releases. The entire collection comes from the cabinets of IHLIA’s own archive, which consists of journals and organization archives, or it comes directly from archives of international, European and local lgbt organizations. The project was presented at the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans & Intersex – Archive, Library, Museum and Special Collections (LGBTI-ALMS) Conference in Amsterdam.

Peruse the Open Up! collection in the IHLIA catalogue

Documents from the Open Up! collection are specially marked in the search results. To read these full text you first have to request an IHLIA account.

NOTE: Due to privacy and copyright issues there are consequences for the extent to which you can access the material. Therefore IHLIA Open Up! makes the collection accessible through two tiers:

1. Consult our search engine in order to search or ask the Information desk
2. The IHLIA collection contains rare documents. To safeguard the quality of our collection, you may peruse all the material, but only at our location. On your request, we prepare everything you need. Make a list (maximum 12 items) of what you would like to view and sent it to info@ihlia.nl
3. We will contact you about when you can come in to examine the material.